Sunday, May 29, 2022

Raptors and company

Raptor nestcam screenshots. Warning for occasional views of prey.

And a beautiful sunset as the eaglets wingercise and get ready for bed.



Other Animal sighting also at the Big Bear Bald eagle nest:

A San Bernardino flying squirrel (Glaucomys californicus) (peeking from behind the nest rails on the left, you can see it better by comparing the three dark screenshots) visits the nest at night. There's a pair of them probably also nesting in the same tree, and they're nocturnal, so Fiona and Freddie, as they have been named by viewers, are somewhat regular night guest stars on the nestcam, though this is the first time I've caught one of them while watching. The eagles can't see the infrared light the camera picks up, but they sometimes hear the squirrels, and slap their wings to shoo away the disturbance they can't see. Better not visit too close to sunrise or sunset, though. The subspecies is critically endangered, so all the more reason to hope they stay safe, but they probably wouldn't have picked this tree if they didn't know how to coexist with the eagles and sneak snacks from their leftovers without ending up as snack themselves.

Spirit grabbing mom's toe.
High hovers on the front porch!
Such a beautiful eagle she's grown to be.


Screenshots of the two Peregrine falcon chicks at Cal Falcons from the past week. They are still very fluffy, but getting bigger.

Huddle.
A peek at pinfeathers.
:>
More pinfeather sightings.
Panting to stay cool.
Big crops.
Tailfeather peek.
And a closeup. Their faces have changed from the pale almost white they hatched with to grey. The older chick on the right also has some ear cover feathers growing in.

The chicks were recently banded. You can find video of it at the Cal Falcons youtube channel, and here's a version with Q&A.

Understandably, the chicks were not very happy about the event, but it was over quickly and they've been fine after getting to calm down a while.

The younger chick, with his new bands.
The older chick has a yellow color band and is female, while the younger has a blue one and is male. Naming contest for them is currently underway!



And screenshots from the Cornell Red-tailed hawk nestcam. Here's L3 self-feeding. Youngest sibling L4 is easy to recognize on the right, the two older chicks L1 and L2 are getting more difficult to tell apart again. I think L2 is at the front here.

Loaves, and a wing and leg stretch. Still L2 at the front, I believe. L1 has what kind of looks like an undercut hairdo at the back of the head, lol. L2's is more mottled, while for L1 there's a clear difference between white nape and brown top of the head.
Neck.
Evening group shots with a rainbow in the background. L4 and L2 front. L1 and L3 back.

Morning cuddles. L3 looking up at mom, and L4 sleeping at the front. L2 is between them and L1 behind mom.

L1 awake alone in the mist.
All standing and lined up. L2 back, L4, L3, L1 front.

Now with L2 and L4's places switched. All three older chicks have a lot of orange on their chests now. L3's head is still mostly downy.

L4 watching L1 cough up a pellet. The little one now has some chest orange, too, and barely any size difference to its siblings. The full week's age difference between these two is now only clearly visible in feather development.

Standing in the rain. Too big for mombrella.
Spaghetti.
Hello!
L1. And L4 at the front on the left.
L2 stretches wings, and allopreens L1.
L2 is five weeks old today.

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